Reply #140: Alfred Nobel created a device that helped miners go home without being maimed...

[Cleobulus]

or killed. The fact that it could also be used to blow people up is what could be called an unintended consequence, and Alfred Nobel was horrified at the idea.

All technology works this way, its always a double edged sword. When our ancestors first used rocks to aid in hunting or in cracking nuts or butchering animals, those same tools were also used to crush skulls of other humans or to throw spears in their enemies' backs. That doesn't discount the usefulness, indeed, the necessity of those tools.

The scientific method is used to both cure and kill, that doesn't discount the fact that its the best tool in our toolbox to figure out not only how the world works, but also how to properly implement the tools we make as a result of using it.